TEHRAN, Iran
A 12-day war between Iran and Israel came to a halt under a US-proposed ceasefire that took effect on June 24.
The conflict marked the longest direct military confrontation between the two long-time adversaries, causing massive human and material losses on both sides.
Israel inflicted most of the damage on the very first day of the conflict, on June 13, by bombing key military and nuclear sites in Tehran and other cities and assassinating many high-ranking military commanders and nuclear scientists.
Iran launched retaliatory missile and drone attacks, inflicting extensive damage across different parts of Israel.
Here is a list of Iran’s top-ranking military commanders killed in Israeli strikes during the conflict.
Maj. Gen. Mohammad Bagheri
Bagheri, a veteran commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), held numerous key positions in the Iranian armed forces since 1979. In 2016, he was appointed as the top military commander by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Sanctioned by the US, Bagheri was known as a military strategist who transformed Iran’s armed forces following the reimposition of US sanctions and military confrontations with the US and Israel.
Maj. Gen. Hossein Salami
Salami served as the IRGC’s top commander since April 2019. He played a pivotal role in the events of January 2020, when the IRGC targeted a US military base in Iraq in retaliation for the assassination of top Iranian commander Qassem Soleimani.
He was a vocal critic of both the US and Israel and believed that the American military presence in the region was a source of instability and chaos.
Brig. Gen. Amir Ali Hajizadeh
Hajizadeh, another high-profile commander, was assassinated on June 13.
A commander of the IRGC Aerospace Division, he was the architect behind Iran’s missile and drone technology, which played a central role during the 12-day war.
He had served in this position since 2010 and was considered a strategic asset to the IRGC. Although he occasionally spoke to the media, the IRGC made significant efforts to keep him away from the public spotlight to ensure his security.
Maj. Gen. Gholam-Ali Rashid
Rashid headed Iran’s Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters, the powerful unified command center of Iran’s armed forces. He was killed on June 13, along with other high-ranking commanders.
He was one of the IRGC’s veteran commanders who served in the Iran-Iraq War and held influential positions in the armed forces since 1979. He was killed alongside his young son.
Maj. Gen. Ali Shadmani
Shadmani succeeded Rashid as the commander of Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters. He was killed a few days later, and his assassination was confirmed only on June 25.
Maj. Gen. Mohammad Kazemi
Kazemi led the IRGC Intelligence Organization since 2022. He was also killed in an Israeli strike on June 13.
Brig. Gen. Mehdi Rabbani
Rabbani was the deputy chief of the General Staff for Operation. He was also killed by Israel on June 13.
Maj. Gen. Gholamreza Mehrabi
Mehrabi was the deputy head of Iran’s Military Intelligence. He was killed on June 13.
Long list
The list of assassinated military officials in Iran also included Maj. Gen. Mohsen Bagheri, Deputy Head of IRGC Intelligence, and Maj. Gen. Mohammad Jafar Asadi, Deputy Inspector General at Khatam al-Anbiya Headquarters.
Brig. Gen. Masoud Shanaei, Chief of Staff to IRGC Commander Salami, was among those killed on June 13, along with Major General Mohammad Reza Nasir Baghban, a representative of the IRGC Commander in the Intelligence Division.
Brig. Gen. Amir Purjodaki, Deputy Commander of the IRGC Aerospace Division and a close aide to Hajizadeh, was also killed on June 13.
Other commanders assassinated in the strikes on the IRGC Aerospace Headquarters included Brig. Gen. Khosro Hassani, Deputy Head of Intelligence in the IRGC Aerospace Division; Brig. Gen. Mansour Safarpour,
Commander of the IRGC Aerospace Division in Tehran; and senior aerospace officers Brig. Gen. Masoud Tayeb and Javad Jarsara.
IRGC Air Defense Commander Brig. Gen. Davoud Sheikhian and IRGC Drone Unit Commander Brig. Gen. Mohammad Baqer Taherpour were also killed.
Brig. Gen. Mohammad Said Izadi, head of the Palestine Desk in the IRGC Quds Force, and Brig. Gen. Behnam Shahriari, head of Unit 190 in the Quds Force, were also among the senior Quds Force commanders killed.
IRGC Quds Force Chief Commander Esmail Qaani, who was initially believed to have been killed, appeared at a public rally in central Tehran on Tuesday.
Among other senior commanders who lost their lives were Brig. Gen. Mohammad Taghi Yousefvand, Chief of Basij Intelligence, and Gen. Meysam Rizvanpour, Deputy Commander for the Basij, a voluntary paramilitary force.
Maj. Gen. Amir Mozaffarnia, head of the Organization of Defensive Innovation and Research of the armed forces, was also among the fatalities.
Several senior military commanders from central Alborz province were also killed, including Brig. Gen. Seyed Mojtaba Moeinpour, IRGC Chief of Staff for Alborz; Brig. Gen. Mojtaba Karami, Deputy Commander of the IRGC in Alborz; and Brig. Gen. Akbar Enayati, Deputy Commander for Social Affairs in Alborz.
Gen. Alireza Lofti, chief of the Police Intelligence Organization (SAFA), and Brigadier General Abbas Nouri, Deputy Logistics Commander, were also among those killed.